WB signs 5 projects with Bangladesh worth over $1.1b
Kamruzzaman Bablu :
The World Bank signed five financing agreements with Bangladesh today amounting to over $1.1 billion to help the country achieve resilient and inclusive growth by improving human development and climate resilience.
Sharifa Khan, senior secretary of the finance ministry’s Economic Relations Division, and Abdoulaye Seck, country director, the World Bank, signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides on Thursday.
Among the total credit amount signed today, the World Bank sanctioned $1,022 million from its IDA concessional window.
The rest $90 million is from Regular Scale Up Window (SUW), which is non-concessional.
For IDA concessional loans, the maturity period is 30 years with 5 years grace period; interest rate is 1.25% and service charge is 0.75%.
For SUW, interest charge is Reference rate+ Variable spread; commitment charge is 0.25% and front end fee is 0.25%.
“Bangladesh is an important partner for the World Bank toward its vision of a world free of poverty on a livable planet. Since the country’s independence, the World Bank and Bangladesh have had an impactful partnership that lifted millions of Bangladeshi people out of poverty,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“These projects will help prepare our children for a brighter future while improving resilience to climate change.”
The five projects include early childhood development, urban primary health, secondary education, riverbank protection and navigability, and gas distribution efficiency.
The $210 million Bangladesh Enhancing Investments and Benefits for Early Years Project will help improve early childhood development by providing cash transfers and counseling services to about 1.7 million pregnant women and mothers of children under 4 years of age in vulnerable households.
The $300 million Learning Acceleration in Secondary Education Operation Project will help strengthen secondary education by improving learning outcome and teaching quality.
To help recover from learning losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve preparedness to future shocks, the project will introduce complementary online learning blended with in-class education.
To reduce dropout rates, the program will provide stipends to 8 million vulnerable students and ensure 5,000 schools have active sexual harassment and prevention committees in place.
The $102 million Jamuna River Sustainable Management Project 1, will help improve riverbank protection and navigability in the Jamuna River, protecting about 2,500 hectares of land from riverbank erosion and flooding, saving thousands of people from displacement and safeguarding their livelihoods and assets.
It will improve navigation channels with adequate depth that can accommodate large cargo vessels year-round and revive inland water transport and trade.
